Alaska Vacation

Highlights in Anchorage:

1. Art and History Museum
2. Marx Brothers Restaurant (they have a wonderful wine list in addition to the food)
3. The Coastal Trail

Highlights in Seward:

1. Killer Whale sightings on Kenai Fjords 6-hour day cruise.
2. Visit to Seavey Iditarod Dog Kennel
3. Cheer of Sauerodough Lodging and owners wonderful Pepsi memorabilia

Highlights of Denali:

1. Caribou everywhere
2. Moose sighting
3. View of the mountain -- when it's out!

Riding the train was a blast. The seats are large and allow for lots of leg room and the opportunity to take pictures in the vestibules between cars was great. This is not Amtrak!

Quick Tips:

Buy the Alaska Toursaver book!!! It will save you tons of money!

The coupon for the roundtrip scenic railroad tour from Anchorage to Seward justifies the cost in of itself. The rail tours on the Alaska railroad are beautiful and the college age Alaskans are energetic and informative.

Best Way To Get Around:

Well we did not take a car and took the railroad. The railroad is not the fastest transportation option but the views are worth it.

Sauerdough Lodging is a delightful B&B in downtown Seward about 2 miles from the train depot. The lodge is about 2 blocks from the Sea Life center which is an informative, fun, educational marine center in Seward that was built by proceeds paid out by Exxon after the oil spill in Valdez.

The lodge is run by a very nice man named Gordon Turner who's a real character. He is a collector of Pepsi Cola and Oregon Duck (the college team) memorabilia and has it proudly displayed in the front lobby.

My girlfriend and I stayed in a room with a shared bath. The room was clean and comfy, and tastefully decorated.

A self-serve breakfast is included in the price of accomodations and on premise laundry facilities are available for guests to use at no charge. There is also a house phone in the front common area available to use to make reservations for day cruises, kayak tours, and Iditarod dog kennel excursions in Seward.

We would recommend the Sauerdough as a good value in Seward.

Hint for travelers in Seward: It is 2 miles from the train depot to downtown Seward (where our accomodations where located). If you're arriving in Seward at the train depot and exhausted it may make sense to hail a cab near the depot or wait for the trolley that runs every half hour. We decided to walk from the depot to our accomodations and were about to "fall over" once we got there (in part due to the unseasonably warm Alaskan weather on that day).

Bed and Breakfast on the Park offers an ideal downtown location for anyone on business or vacation. Charming comfortable rooms with private bath, telephone and TV are available in a converted historic log cabin church. The B&B offers five unique bedrooms. Each one has its own bathroom and is tastefully ndividually decorated. The rooms are very spacious and include cable TV. A full breakfast is served at 8am. During breakfast we enjoyed a large portion of baked salmon that was delicious. Enjoy privacy and use of community areas as well as off street parking. The B&B is close to the city park, coastal trail, and restaurants.

Stella and Helen, who run the B&B, are warm and friendly and made us feel very much at home. They have two cute dogs who are very friendly too! One evening, when it was raining, we accepted their gracious offer to drive us to the restaurant where we had reservations since it was raining outside. This example is only one of many of their consideration. In short, I highly recommend B&B on the Park and hope to return on my next visit to Alaska. I would expect your stay to be as delightful as mine.

The Bed & Breakfast on the Park offers five unique bedrooms. Each one has its own bathroom and is tastefully individually decorated. Whichever one you choose, your stay is sure to be a delightful one. Guests wake up each morning to a generous Continental breakfast. If you want to wait a big full breakfast will be served a 8am.

Helen and Stella love flower gardening, and they hope that the beautiful flowers about the property will bring you much pleasure.

For gourmet food, try the Marx Brothers. It's a wonderful restaurant in an old victorian home on a bluff overlooking the Cook Inlet.

Our entrees were standouts. We ordered Salmon and Halibut respectively. The Chocolate Mousse for dessert was excellent as well. The mousse was very chocolatey and not too sweet. The portions were generous.

The service was very attentive and the decor tasteful. Also noteworthy is the extensive wine list.

In terms of quality, the restaurant equals New York's finest. The restaurant is expensive but worth it. We highly highly recommend the the Marx Brothers.

The Coastal Trail runs along Cook Inlet in Anchorage. It's several blocks from the Captain Cook Hotel -- a noteworthly landmark in of-itself Anchorage. The trail is well paved with beautiful views of the coast and not too crowded. Fireweed is abundant along the route. Towards the end of the trail you are confronted by a lagoon with beatiful views of the Chugach Mountains.

The Alaskan Railroad is not Amtrak! To start with the guides are born and bred Alaskans with a very thorough knowledge of the route, sights, and energy. The cars and seats themselves are very comfortable and there's an enormous amount of leg room and the seats recline almost fully. Every train has a dome car -- which is a car with a 2nd level that has a domed room which affords an even more scenic view of the route. The domed car has rotating open seating with passengers encouraged to stay no more than 30 minutes so other riders can be afforded the same opportunity. The train also has a gift shop and a dining car with serviceable, affordable food. It's as easy to appreciate the scenery from the dining cars as from the regular seats.

The Seward Coastal Classic Route (from Anchorage to Seward) is stunning. The route runs through the Chugach Mountains and passes dozens of glaciers. If you're lucky you'll sight dall sheep and moose along the way. The Denali Star Route is not quite as picturesque but still beautiful and nearly as enjoyable.

The train isn't the fastest way to get point-to-point but is well worth it. For example, the train slows for unique picture taking opportunities which the guides point out well ahead in advance. There are opportunities to shoot tunnels, gulches, glaciers etc.

In summary, we had a wonderful time on the Alaskan Railroad. (There are coupons for free round-trip tickets from Anchorage to Denali, Anchorage to Seward, Anchorage to Whittier in the Alaskan Toursaver booklet -- available from toursaver.com for $99.)